PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University rowers
Mihaela-Teodora Berindei and
Paige Danielson have been named to the 2017 Academic All-District 8 Women's At-Large First and Second Teams, respectively, as voted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the organization announced Thursday.
A native of Cimpeni, Romania, Berindei has a 3.93 grade point average and graduated with a degree in accounting earlier this month. The senior was also named the 2017 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for rowing, and is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team honoree. A native of St. Cloud, Minn., Danielson has a 4.0 grade point average and is majoring in electrical engineering. This is the sophomore's first year of academic award eligibility.
Berindei and Danielson become the first Cougars to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors since Katie Dick earned first team honors in 2013 and 2012, and second team honors in 2011. They also become the first Cougar rowing duo to be named to an all-district team in the same season.
Berindei has rowed in the varsity eight boat for Washington State all four years, while Danielson is in her first year with the varsity eight after rowing with the varsity four crew as a freshman in 2015-16. Currently ranked 14th in the nation, the Cougars head to the Pac-12 Championships this Sunday for a chance to advance to the NCAA Championships for the fifth-straight year. Berindei has been a part of the last three NCAA Championship appearances, while Danielson was a part of last year's 12th-place finish. The Cougars finished eighth in 2015 and 14th in 2014. The eighth-place team finish in 2015 tied for the second-best finish in school history and the best since 2008. Berindei has also competed internationally for her native-Romania.
The women's at-large category includes student-athletes participating in bowling, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, rowing, skiing, swimming, tennis and water polo.
Berindei and all of the Academic All-District First Team honorees now advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.
The Academic All-District teams include student-athletes divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. The teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.
No. 14 Washington State will compete at the Pac-12 Championships at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma at Gold River, Calif., Sunday, May 14. The novice eight crew begins action for the day at 9 a.m.
